The Inglewood police chief Monday reiterated her department’s contention that a man shot and killed by officers over the weekend was armed with a handgun, contrary to statements by his relatives.

An officer was also wounded – possibly by friendly fire – after four officers were sent about 12:45 a.m. Sunday to a birthday party in the 800 block of Osage Avenue in response to reports of a fight, according to the Inglewood Police Department.

A man later identified as Marcus Smith, 31, threatened the officers with a gun, and three of them fired on him, said Inglewood police Lt. Mike McBride.

The Compton resident died at the scene.

One officer was shot in the leg, but it was unclear whether he was wounded by a partygoer or another officer, McBride said. The officer was taken to a hospital and reported to be in stable condition.

Members of Smith’s family, including sister Latasha Parker, have contended that he was not armed at the time he was shot.

“His back was turned,” Parker told NBC4. “They took my brother from me, my momma, my sisters and his twin brothers, and his kids. They took my brother. And they will not get away with this. They will not.”

At a news conference Monday afternoon at Inglewood police headquarters, Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks restated her department’s contention that Smith had a gun.

“It was pointed at the officers,” Seabrooks said. “He pulled it from his waistband and pointed it at the officers.”

The District Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting, and Inglewood police are conducting separate criminal and administrative investigations, McBride said.

He could not say whether Smith was ordered to drop his weapon before officers opened fire.

“The important part is that regardless of whether or not he fired the gun, he pointed it at the officers, as confirmed by physical evidence and witness statements,” McBride said.

Ballistics tests will be made on a semiautomatic weapon that was recovered at the scene, McBride said.

Witnesses told a Newsreel camera crew that officers opened fire on an unarmed man at close range, striking him at least four times in the back, and that an officer was struck by “friendly fire.”

Smith’s fiancee, Kalonna LaCount, 30, told the Los Angeles Times that she and Smith were leaving the party and that officers in the backyard opened fire on Smith when he stumbled while walking down a staircase.

LaCount said she and Smith had three children and had been together for 17 years.

All four officers were put on administrative leave, as is routine in officer-involved shootings, McBride said.

Some partygoers were detained, but no one was arrested, he said.

Sunday’s incident was the latest for a department already under scrutiny for officer-involved shootings.

In March, the U.S. Justice Department opened a probe into a series of officer-involved shootings that claimed the lives of three unarmed suspects in Inglewood. The department pledged to fully cooperate with the federal investigation.

Additionally, at the request of the city, the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, which monitors the county Sheriff’s Department, is looking into the tactics of Inglewood police.

In November last year, the department began sending its officers to a mandatory 120-hour course to improve decision-making and tactical responses, with an extra 20 hours required for all personnel above the rank of sergeant, according to McBride. All officers were expected to complete the course by this month.